I shrug. “It means okay. You’re pregnant and you’re not getting back with the father. I don’t care whose baby it is. I’ll love him or her as my own, Katie, I promise I will.”
She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. She’s mad. Probably madder than I’ve ever seen her. “What exactly are you thinking, Treyton Cree?”
Fuck. Yep, she’s mad since she’s using my whole name. “What do you mean what do I think?”
She points to her stomach. “You think this is Craig’s?”
I gulp and nod.
She rolls her eyes. “Well, that tells me exactly what you think of me. I’m not a slut. I don’t sleep around.”
I reach for her, and she jerks away. I hold my hands up. “I don’t think you are. We haven’t been together that long. You were married to him. It doesn’t matter. Whose baby is it?”
Her eyes get even bigger. “It’s yours... you big dummy. Craig and I haven’t slept together in over a year. There’s no one else. You’re the only man I’ve slept with.”
I point to myself. “Mine... but I can’t.”
She shakes her head. “You said it yourself, Trey. There’s a zero point one percent chance. Well, you may need to play the lottery or something because it’s yours. This baby is yours.”
I take a few steps back and fall back into the chair. “I can’t... it can’t...”
Her gaze softens. “It is, Trey. I promise it is yours. We stopped using condoms, and I didn’t think I needed birth control. I guess I did.”
“They said...”
She holds her hand out to me. I get up and stumble toward her. My legs feel like Jell-O. When I get close to the bed, she holds my one hand between both of hers. “I promise you that I have not been with anyone else, and honestly, it makes me mad that you think that about me, but I understand these are special circumstances. I’ll have whatever test to prove it to you.” She holds one hand up. “As long as it’s safe for the baby.”
I search her face. I have so many emotions right now, I can’t even grasp on to one thought without having another. “You don’t have to do a test. You’re mine, Katie. I love you. and I love Lane and our baby.” I reach forward and cup her face with my hand. “Why are you in the hospital? Are you and the baby okay?”
“I’ve been stressed lately, and I haven’t been eating and passed out. But we’re fine. We’re both fine.” She looks into my eyes. “Lane and I have missed you.”
“I’m never leaving you again. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”
I lean down to kiss her, but she stops me. “I love you, Trey.”
“Fuck honey, I love you. I’m going to spend the rest of our lives proving it to you.”
And then I kiss her, vowing to myself that I’m going to make everything right. She’ll never hurt again.
13
Treyton
A few months later
“So I’m going to have a little brother?” Lane asks, looking between Katie and me. It’s easy to see the worry and unsurety on the little boy’s face. I wish I could say the last few months have been a cake walk, but they haven’t been. Craig definitely had issues with how fast Katie and I have moved in our relationship and tried to put his two cents in at every turn. I’ve remained respectful because he is Lane’s dad, but there’s no way I’m going to let him come between Katie and me.
And now it seems there’s another issue. “I thought you were excited about being a big brother.”
He shrugs his shoulders and goes back to drawing. It seems since the time we worked on the tattoos on his cast, he’s found a love for art.
There’s a movement behind Lane, and I see Katie leaning against the kitchen doorway. Her belly is round, and she has her hand over it protectively. Fuck, she’s even more beautiful now. I smile at her before getting back to my discussion with Lane, sensing that there’s definitely something bothering him.
“Look at me, Lane. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
He blows out a deep breath but doesn’t look up. He continues to draw as he asks softly, “Are you going to send me to live with my dad?”
Katie gasps and starts to move toward us, but I hold my hand up and shake my head to stop her. She does, but I can see the pain on her face, worried about her son.
“Look at me, Lane.”
He does, and his big eyes that are so much like Katie’s stare up at me worriedly. “Why would you think that?”
He blinks. “My dad said once you and mom had a kid of your own you wouldn’t want me around.”
My fists clench on the table, and automatically I want to go and pummel Katie’s ex-husband. What a douchebag. Why would you tell a five-year-old something like that?